Thoughts And Ramblings From The Life Of A Baptist Preacher

Monthly Archives: November 2009

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It’s been a whole week since I stopped by to say anything here. I have no excuses, so I will make no excuses. I will simply prepare for church as I always do, head over there and preach a while. This morning I will tackle Eph. 1:4, which says, “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love“. I don’t expect to get passed the first phrase in that verse for at least a couple of weeks. We will be examining the doctrine of election in our morning services. I am sure that this doctrine will be met with resistance by some folks, it always is. A few will reject it out of hand; a few will get angry; a few will hear what they always hear, nothing; and a few will get it. Either way, it is the truth and it will be preached this morning. Personally, I am excited about the opportunity to preach the doctrines of grace today. So, I had better get busy reading over my sermon notes.

Wherever you are today, I hope it is a good day in the Lord. May He bless you for His glory, and preachers, may He take your words and set them on fire for His glory!

It’s another Lord’s Day morning here in Lenoir, NC. I am getting ready to go to Calvary Baptist to preach again today. I am still a little road weary from my trip back from Alabama. I left there Friday night around 10:00 PM and arrived home around 5:00 AM. I slept a few hours, but once your internal clock is reset it takes a while for things to get back to normal. That is my experience, your mileage may vary. We had a good week in Alabama last week. I got to visit with nearly all my aunts and uncles. I even saw a few cousins I hadn’t seen in a coon’s age. (If you are not from the south, that means “in a long time”.) Now, back to today.

I have begun a journey through the book of Ephesians at Calvary Baptist. I am looking forward to preaching this amazing and wonderful book. It details the riches of grace that have been given to the body of Christ. Ephesians reveals the great spiritual wealth that has been handed to the believer, then the book tells us how to spend what we have been given for the glory of God. I am having a great time studying the book, and preparing and preaching the sermons. Right now, I am dealing with the issues of election, predestination and God’s sovereignty in salvation. I am discovering that there is a resistance in the human heart to these great doctrines.

Most people seem to think that salvation is synergistic in nature. That is, most people have been conditioned to believe that we cooperate with God to bring about our salvation. In truth, biblical salvation is monergistic. That is, God worked out our salvation in eternity past, then He comes to us in time, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and brings us to a place of faith. We could never believe if He didn’t first supply the faith necessary to believe, Eph. 2:8. We could never get to Him unless He first came to us, Eph. 2:1. I will articulate what I believe the Bible teaches about salvation in the sermons I will prepare and post over the next few weeks. Most people who visit this blog, read the sermons I post, and who hear me preach them will; not agree with my statements. That doesn’t bother me! I would rather be biblical in my theology than I had to please the brethren. I say, with Paul, “let God be true and every man a liar”, Rom. 3:4.

I pray that your day in the Father’s house goes well. May He bless you as you hear His Word expounded. If you are the one who expounds that Word, preach it like it is Brother and let the chips fall where they may!

The meeting is going well at Mt. View Baptist here in Sylvania, AL. I didn’t get to preach on Wednesday night. The Spirit of the Lord took over the service and He did a wonderful job. I preached last night and we had a great service. Lord willing, I will finish up this evening and head home to North Carolina. I am looking forward to getting home. When this week is over, I have a long break before my next meeting. I’m looking forward to catching up with myself, spending time with Joan and working among the people of Calvary. I am praying that the Lord will use this time to help our church. The good folk at Calvary do not complain about my being gone so often on Wednesday night, but it does have an impact on attendance. When I am in town the crowds are good. When I am away they are pitiful. There’s more wrong with that picture than just the Pastor being out of town. We’ll see if a few months of my being there will make a difference. Anyway, pray for us as we conclude the meeting this evening. I would appreciate your prayers as I will be driving home after the service tonight. God bless!

We had another good night of meeting with the fine folks at Sylvania, AL. The Lord blessed in the song service and He even helped this preacher to preach a while I thank Him for that! At any rate, the meeting will continue, Lord willing, through Friday night.

While I am preaching in Alabama and visiting with family here, my heart is home in North Carolina with my precious wife. I miss her when she can’t travel with me, which is very often, thank the Lord. We have been together a long time and I am attached to her. Lord willing, I will point my car north when I finished preaching on Friday night. With portions of I-40 closed due to a rock slide at the North Carolina state line, I will have to drive a good distance out of my way to get there. It will be good to get home.

Please continue to pray for this meeting. If you are in the area, come if you can. Remember, the services begin at 6:00 PM.

I am sitting in my Aunt’s house in Collinsville, AL this morning. It starting to rain. I am here because I am preaching a meeting in Sylvania, AL at Mt. View Baptist Church. Brother Brian Harris is the Pastor. The meting got of to a good start last night. It was well attended and there was a good move in the altar at the invitation. I praise the Lord for how He mets with us and blesses His Word. If you think about it, pray for he meeting and come if you can. Just for your information, the meeting starts at 6:00 PM instead of 7:00 PM.

Just want to mention that we had two boys make professions of faith at Calvary on Sunday. Pray for them as they begin a new walk of faith. Pray for our church that others will be saved. We have quiet a new people, who attend our church regularly, that have never been saved. We are praying for them, and i am preaching to them. I am sure the Lord will work in their hearts in His Own time.

I am preaching this week at Mathis Chapel Baptist in Catawba, NC. The Pastor is Brother Travis Triplett. The past two nights have been very good. The meeting has been well attended and the presence of the Lord has been very real. I praise Him for the liberty I have enjoyed as I have preached each night. I also appreciate the people of the Lord being responsive to the Word of God and for listening to His Spirit during the invitation. Pray for the rest of the meeting.

Next week, I will be in Sylvania, AL with Pastor Brian Harris and the good folks at Mt. View Baptist Church. Please remember this meeting in your prayers as well.

I have this desire to blog, but sometimes, I don’t have anything to say. I suppose it is better to say something than nothing at all. So, this morning I am going to say something.

First, I will say something about the weekend. For starters, on Friday my wife and 25 other women from our church went to Greensboro, NC for the Women of Faith Conference. They were there from Friday morning until Saturday evening. From all the reports I have heard, it was a great conference.

While the wife was away, I did very little. I spent time finishing my sermon prep for Sunday. My son Jesse and I went to Boone, NC for lunch on Friday. We had a plate of ribs at a great little restaurant called Bandanas. On Saturday, Jesse and I met Nikki, (daughter), Chad (Son in law), Clayton (wonderful grandson), Mom, Dad, and Don (Brother from Ohio) for dinner at a restaurant in Morganton, NC. We had a good meal and it was good to see my brother.

Sunday was the Lord’s Day. We had good services that were well attended. In the AM service, I began a series of messages from the book of Ephesians. Last night, Luke Brakefield, a young man who announced his call to preach last Sunday, preached his first sermon. He did a great job. I look for the Lord to do great things for, in and through him.

This morning, I am off to teach my class in the Master’s Program at school. Then I will come home, Lord willing, to prepare to preach tonight. I am Mathis Chapel in Catawba, NC. Brother Travis Triplett is the Pastor. Please pray for the meeting.

There you go; I said something! Have a great day and do great things for the glory of God!